With many of the young Chicago White Sox starting pitchers approaching their career high in innings, the second half of the 2025 season has required the White Sox to find a way to fill innings.
nfortunately, an influx of injuries has left the White Sox farm system devoid of big-league-ready reinforcements. The White Sox are forced to get creative, and one such example came in Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Prior to Tuesday’s game, the White Sox called up RHP Yoendrys Gómez from Triple-A Charlotte.'
The career of Yoendrys Gómez prior to Chicago
Gómez, 25, was originally signed by the Yankees in 2016 out of Venezuela. Throughout the next several years, Gómez progressed through the Yankees system, mostly as a starter despite never throwing more than 83.1 innings in a season.
Outside of 2017, his first year in professional baseball, Gómez posted an ERA under 4.00 every season in the minor leagues. He made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2023, making just one relief appearance.
Gómez appeared in five games with the Yankees in 2024, all out of the bullpen, and six more to begin 2025 before being designated for assignment on April 22nd.
Gómez was claimed by the Dodgers and allowed seven earned runs over three appearances before being designated for assignment a second time and claimed by the White Sox.
Gómez finds his stride with the White Sox
The White Sox also designated Gómez for assignment after just three games, but this time he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. Shortly after being optioned, the White Sox made the decision to stretch Gómez out back into a starter, and it worked surprisingly well.
Gómez held a 2.12 ERA in 14 games with Charlotte, 11 of them being starts. With the White Sox needing an extra arm this week, they decided to give him a shot to see if the starting success would translate to the Majors, and Gómez did not disappoint.
Gómez held the Tigers to just one run and one hit over five innings on Tuesday evening, walking just one and striking out seven batters. His 16 whiffs were the third most among all starting pitchers on Tuesday, and he played a big part in the White Sox evening up the series against the first-place Tigers.
Gómez flashed a five-pitch mix and had great life on his cutter and breaking balls. Following the game, the White Sox elected to demote Cam Booser and keep Gómez on the roster, indicating that he may get more opportunities to start at the big league level.
Yoendrys Gomez, Filthy 82mph Curveball. 😷 pic.twitter.com/v60A2J6vo9
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 13, 2025
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It’s only one game, so it’s impossible to draw conclusions based on the results, but Gómez looked impressive this week, and if he’s able to put together a few more solid outings, he could put himself firmly in the mix for the 2026 White Sox rotation.
The starting rotation is a bit crowded already, with all of the young arms already there, several others on the cusp of the big leagues, and some returning from injury, but a 25 year-old with a good pitch mix deserves consideration. The key for Gómez will be his control.
He’s been known to get a bit wild at times in his career, which is likely why the majority of his big league experience has come as a reliever, but Ethan Katz and Brian Bannister will get a chance to work with him at the big league level and see if they can harness his stuff consistently.
Regardless of whether Gómez ultimately becomes a rotation mainstay with the White Sox, it gives Sox fans another intriguing arm to watch, and another interesting variable in the 2026 plan.
A two-time waiver claim reliever turning into a successful big league starter would be a heck of a win for the White Sox player development, and taking him from the big bad Dodgers and Yankees would just be icing on the cake. Gómez's next start could come Monday against Atlanta. Let’s hope it’s as impressive as the first.